


His Wicked Sense of Humour

by MimBeech



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Conversations, Friendship, Getting Together, Historical References, M/M, rated t only for swearing, to more?? perhaps!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimBeech/pseuds/MimBeech
Summary: Medic and Sniper find themselves discussing humour. And what a pleasant conversation they have.
Relationships: Medic/Sniper (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 91





	His Wicked Sense of Humour

They’d been working together for three weeks now, and it was the first time Medic had heard Sniper laugh. Gravely and genuine, warm and unaffected. At the sound of it, Medic could swear his heart stuttered. With disconnected thoughts of arrhythmia and palpitations running through his mind, he turned to look at the source of that lovely sound.

The marksman was shaking his head with a toothy smile, watching Demo who was hunched over holding his head, seemingly in pain. 

Demo was hissing through his teeth, “Ssshit.”

“Shouldn’t’a said anything while you had your head in your locker mate, I’m sorry.” 

“Aye, well, it was fuckin’ hilarious,” Demo was smiling as hissed again and rubbed the back of his skull, “so I’ll forgive ye this once. Christ, what a shitty memorial for the blighter.”

The smirk was evident in Sniper’s voice, “Yep.” 

RED had finished work a while ago, and only the three men were left in the locker room, cleaning up equipment in Medic’s case and seemingly goofing off in the case of Demo and Sniper. 

Curious about his colleagues’ conversation, Medic left his medigun on a bench and wandered over to the pair, “Vhat was so amusing, Herr Demo, it caused you to injure yourself?”

Demo squinted up at the Medic, “Something about Australia’s last prime minister, go on Sniper, tell ‘im.”

Sniper rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, “Aww, it’s just – have you heard of Harold Holt? He was voted in in ’66, then a year later, went for a swim and literally disappeared of the coast.”

Medic frowned, “I do not see the … ach, what’s the term … punch phrase?”

Demo shook his head, “Nah, Doc, that’s not the punch line.” He grinned again, and nudged Sniper, “Go on, lad, tell ‘im.”

“Well, y’see, it was kind of a national tragedy. And people had no idea what happened – no body was found, nothing. Coulda been aliens for all we know. I remember it really well, cos everyone was so sad about this poor prime minister disappearing off the face of the earth when he went for a simple morning swim.

“I just got the paper this morning – I get The Sydney Morning Herald shipped out from Aus, y’know. It’s a week late, but it’s worth keeping up with what’s happening at home... And,” like Demo, Sniper was now grinning too, “on the front page is the announcement that construction has begun on the Harold Holt memorial swimming pool in fuckin’ Melbourne.” 

And Demo was off again, guffawing. Medic looked between the two men, Sniper smiling genuinely at his own tale and Demo snorting and slapping his thigh.

“I don’t get it.”

Demo wiped a tear from his eye – whether it was due to his laughter or previous pain, Medic was not sure – and looked at the Doctor incredulously.

“Are ye serious, Doc?”

“Ja, I don’t see what is so humorous.”

Sniper chipped in, “It’s the irony, mate. The bloke probably got eaten by a shark swimming off the coast and some drongo thought it’d be a good idea to name a pool after ‘im.” 

“Ah, I see.” Medic replied thoughtfully, “Irony. Ja, well, I suppose that is an unfortunate coincidence.”

Demo shook his head, “You genuinely don’t think it’s funny?”

“Hmm, nein, not particularly.”

“Oh well, maybe you can grow yourself a funny bone in your lab some day.” At that, Demo looked over at Sniper and winked, and Sniper couldn’t hold back an ugly snort, mouth curling at the corners.

Medic curled his lip at Demo, “Ha, very amusing…”

Demo shrugged and closed his locker with a bang, “I’ll be off lads, I got some tinkerin’ to do before dinner.” He set off out of the room. 

“I guess dark humour’s a bit of an acquired taste,” mused Sniper, turning to Medic and fiddling with his slouch hat. “It’s kind of a staple in Australia.”

“It is no problem,” Medic shrugged, “I know for a fact that German humour is difficult to appreciate outside of the language.”

“Aw yeah?” An easy smile settled on Sniper’s face, as he crossed his arms and leaned on the lockers beside him. “Try me.”

Briefly startled by Sniper’s sudden casual shift, and his smile. _What a smile._ Medic found himself at a loss for words.

Sniper, thankfully, misinterpreted the Doctor’s silence for confusion. “Y’know, tell me a good German joke.”

“Vell,” mused Medic, stalling to think, “A friend of mine from university, who still sends me letters every few months shared a funny one with me recently.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Do you know, Erich Honecker?”

“Nah, can’t say I do.”

“He is high up in the Socialist Party in East Germany. And he’s known for being rather… how can I say, severe in his rule.”

“Yep, alright, I think I have a bit of a picture of the guy.” Sniper scratched his head, “Was the that the joke?”

“Nein!” Medic sniffed, “I’m afraid that background is needed for the joke – just as, I suppose, knowing about the demise of your prime minister is needed to understand your observation.

“Okay, now for the joke: One man tells another – Have you heard the news? The train announcer at Chemnitz has been arrested.” Medic put on a nasal voice to enact the other man, “Oh no, Herr, I have not heard. Whatever for?” Returning to his normal voice, “He announced please step back as Erich Honecker’s train was arriving!”

Silence filled the locker room as Sniper waited patiently to hear something funny. As the silence grew his brow crinkled, “Uhh, was that it?”

“Do you see, the announcer was arrested because he told Honecker to step back.” Medic's eyes were wide and earnest, as if willing Sniper to telepathically understand the inherent humour of the situation.

“Nah. I got nothing. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Step back… for safety. But also, as in give up his position? And because he is such a harsh politician, he had the poor announcer arrested. For suggesting he leave his job.”

Vague comprehension dawned on Sniper’s features. “So, this Honecker bloke misunderstood the train announcer, and had him arrested.”

Medic found himself somewhat disappointed that his joke – which had been, to him, very funny in Carl’s letter – had failed to make Sniper laugh again. He felt an urge to somehow make Sniper laugh, just to hear his rough, but uninhibited vocalisations once more.

“Jawhol,” Medic replied, “this confirms my previous statement, German humour is amusing only to Germans.”

“P’raps humour’s culturally mediated.”

Medic blinked at this statement, surprised for the third time in the last 10 minutes. _What a unexpectedly cohesive and direct thought._ “Herr Sniper, I did not know you had an interest in soziologie.”

Sniper laughed lightly, tilting his head back and exposing his neck (Medic bit his lip), “Mate, I spent too long at uni – I tried all sorts’a courses, and never finished a single degree.”

“It would seem you have undiscovered depths, Herr Sniper.”

Sniper made a noise of derision, smiling still, “Undiscovered to you, perhaps.” He looked directly at medic and chewed his lip, “Maybe you’d like to do some more discovering some time?”

Medic – for the fourth time in this singular conversation – was surprised. _Did the Sniper just proposition me?_ The shock didn’t last long, however, and Medic composed hismelf. He smiled a sultry smile and let his eyes trace gently up the rifleman’s lean body. 

Stepping closer again, Medic quietly took Sniper’s slouch hat from his hands, brushed off an imagined speck of dust and softly placed it on Sniper’s head. As the Doctor brought his hands down, he let a thumb trail down Sniper’s cheek and was satisfied to see the other man’s cheeks become rosy.

“Take me out to dinner first, Süßer.”

Sniper’s laugh was golden.

**Author's Note:**

> • Thanks for reading - hope you felt like some abstract jokes, historical references and a very soft ending!  
> • I was thinking about Bjork’s beautiful song, Venus as a Boy, and this silly story came to mind. Although the line is “His wicked sense of humour suggests exciting sex” and this fic turned out rather tame in comparison  
> • Comments and concrit are welcome


End file.
